1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of food preparation and display, and more particularly to a device for slicing melons and similar food and non-food items into wedges or slices for an ornamental display or for cooking, and even more particularly to a melon wedger having a changeable blade and press for cutting different sized wedges for different sized melons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of wedgers to cut or slice melons and similar food or non-food items for cooking or display purposes has long been known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,249 which issued to Repisky, et al. on Jun. 6, 1995 for “Food wedger” discloses a food wedger for slicing food such as apples into wedge shaped segments and coring the food, the wedger including a cutter assembly comprising a plurality of cutter blades radiating outwardly and upwardly from a central ring in an inverted cone-shaped radial array wherein a tapered segmented pusher having radial slots and a central pin is mounted for selective advancement through the cutter assembly.
Another such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,756 which issued to Muro on Nov. 15, 1994 for “Fruit and vegetable cutter” discloses a device including a cutter assembly having radially disposed blades fastened to a holding frame mounted on a base frame wherein two guide rods hold a vertically slidable press-down member having a concave pressing surface facing the blades. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,480 which issued to Codikow on Aug. 16, 1994 for “Subdividing device” discloses a device for subdividing a workpiece comprising a blade support structure having an opening with a plurality of blades sharpened on two edges projecting from the circumferential surface of the opening toward the middle to juxtapose attacking points and edges forming a channel through which a plunger mechanism urges the workpiece into contact with the attacking points and sharpened edges thereby subdividing the workpiece into segments.
Other examples of sectioning devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,045 which issued to Mendenhall on Mar. 27, 1990 for “Decorative form hydraulic food product cutting blade assembly” discloses a cutter blade assembly for the production of a decorative food core for use with hydraulic food cutting apparatus having a frame constructed from a series of sequential rings defining a longitudinal passageway and a plurality of strip knives arranged to define various segments of the longitudinal passageway connected to the rings; as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,025 which issued to Jones on Mar. 13, 1984 for “Sectioning device for rounded food articles” discloses a sectioning device including a conical cup of radial blades within which the food article is impaled on a central spike to which the central ends of the blades are joined such that the article is forced through the wedge-shaped spaces between the blades by an annular array of fingers depending from a plunger to which a handle is attached. The food item need not be a fruit or melon, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,973 which issued to Tur, et al. on Sep. 1, 1992 for “Onion cutter” discloses a food cutting apparatus having a cutter assembly formed as a truncated cone by a plurality of radially extending cutter blades wherein the cutter assembly cuts through the work piece until it encounters stops which prevent it from passing completely through the work piece.
Older examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,830,151, 3,468,355, 1,744,422, 1,422,066, 1,399,950, 1,250,676, 853,796, 590,129, 471,158 and 98,457.
A device for also removing the rind from the fruit is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0079616 which was filed in the name of Barnard on May 1, 2003 for “Melon cutter” discloses a melon cutter having a cutting basket including a plurality of arched wire cutters which extend to a central member, and a melon holder which can be forced down towards the cutting head such that the cutting basket can be rotated to separate the melon meat from the melon rind.
However, there are currently no wedgers offer the unique advantages of the present invention, namely a wedger having a changeable blade and press to allow for the slicing of different sized and shaped wedges for different sized melons.